After a decade in which viewers followed Clark Kent’s pre-Superman adventures, the tenth and final season of The CW’s “Smallville” comes to an explosive end this Friday night.

The longest running comic book-based series in television history, “Smallville” debuted on the then-new WB network in 2001 with the goal of retelling Superman’s origin, from the rocket crash all the way to his decision to don the cape and tights. On Friday, the ten-year-long saga ends with the rise of Darkseid in a two-hour long finale that brings back old friends, older foes and sees Clark finally wearing the iconic red and blue suit.

In preparation for the end, executive producers Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders spoke with CBR News and members of the press about the final episode, beginning with a screening of an unfinished promo for the two-hour finale. Without gong too far into spoiler territory, the promo highlighted the return of Chloe, Oliver Queen punching someone (possibly Clark) through a window, the planet Apokolips rapidly advancing on a collision-course towards Earth and Lois Lane decked out in full bridal gear, running down the aisle — in the wrong direction. The promo also showed Granny Goodness attempting to get Tess to join her side and a very quick shot of what appeared to be Clark’s first flight, sans Superman suit.

Most importantly, the promo featured the return of Lex Luthor, played once again by Michael Rosenbaum, confronting Clark in the ruins of the Luthor mansion and insinuating that without help against Darkseid, Earth is doomed.

”We were thinking about Rosenbaum coming back and what Lex, our Lex, what his purpose was. It was always not quite what you expected and much more human and emotional than I think any of us starting out on ‘Smallville’ would have expected,” said Souders. “We really went back to the pilot and thought, ‘There’s that guy who showed up and was totally personable and super sympathetic and just wanted to thank a guy for saving his life.’ So when we looked at having him back for the finale, it was the same thing, which is, they’re going to go on to be huge enemies. So what is it that’s pivotal at this moment is, that’s our Lex Luthor and our Clark Kent, and how do we wrap up their relationship that has been so complicated and mixed with emotions for ten years?”

Will Lex’s return disrupt Clark and Lois’ wedding plans?
Interestingly, according to Peterson and Souders, this last and biggest reveal almost didn’t happen.

“We only had Michael for one day, so there was only so much we could do with him in the story,” said Peterson. Souders explained they were unsure whether or not Rosenbaum would come back, and thus wrote and prepped a version of the finale without him, just in case.

“There were a couple of things we had planned on planting in the season that we didn’t because we didn’t know that we were going to have him,” Peterson added.

Yet another character reappearing in the finale is Jonathan Kent, who died of a heart attack in season five and has shown up in subsequent episodes as a spirit. Played by actor John Schneider, Jonathan’s part in the finale is unclear, though the executive producers promised not to leave fans hanging.

“I think it will become really clear what role Jonathan plays and why he shows up the way he does in this episode,” said Souders, adding, “Every time I see certain moments with Jonathan I still get a tear in my eye, even after all these weeks of watching the footage.”

Rounding out the returning cast members is Allison Mack who reprises her role as Chloe, a character who has not been seen since “Fortune,” the fifteenth episode of the current season.

“I think there are a lot of different ways people want Chloe[‘s story] to end, and so we, I think, serviced her character in a way that is right for who she was and who she’s becoming. She has one big moment with Clark where we get to see her shine,” said Peterson, commenting on Chloe’s role in the finale.

Familiar faces return for the “Smallville” finale
Added Souders, “I will say that Chloe fans should definitely stay tuned through the whole show — there’s a jewel!”

While “Smallville’s” entire cast has undergone tremendous change throughout the show’s history, the executive producers agree that Clark (played by Tom Welling) has changed the most, both to his benefit and detriment. Peterson and Souders pointed specifically to Clark’s choice to sell the Kent farm against Martha’s wishes as part of his growth process.

“I think that final step of trying to figure out as an adult if you are friends with your parents, or are your parents still your parents — I think he’s really trying to figure out all those last relationships as he takes this step into complete super-manhood. It’s still a complication in his life he needs to make peace with in the finale,” said Souders.

“He’s trying too hard to be a hero and too hard to force his destiny. So some of the problems he’s facing at the top of the finale are about that; trying too hard to decide who he is and not letting it happen as it should,” added Peterson.

Though neither Peterson nor Souders know of plans for a “Smallville” spin-off, they believed there may at least be one more “Smallville” related comic book miniseries in the works, though they said they were not privy to further details.

Overall, when it came to summing up “Smallville’s” legacy, the executive producers admitted they were huge fans of the Superman mythos and that the show represented a spectacular time in their lives, one “never to be duplicated,” stated Souders.

“What I would hope is what ‘Smallville’ did was make one of the most recognizable heroes in the world accessible, made him human to people so that they could relate to him and be inspired by him,” she added.

Clark will finally don the Superman suit
“I think, to me, we got to see the immense struggle it took to get to that point, and to fill in the space to when [Clark] decided to be that inspiration for people,” said Peterson. “We didn’t just want to do an ending, we wanted to do a beginning.”

Ultimately, Peterson and Souders feel that fans and those working on the show would take away from “Smallville” is a simple idea: its OK to have faith in heroes.

“Honestly, I think it’s the theme that emerged this year, which is ‘believe in heroes.’ That has become incredibly important to us that we were able to work on a show that had a positive message,” said Souders. “That’s why [the fans] watch. Not because we have the biggest visual special effects you’ll see on a screen or because of anything else. I think they want to believe in the heroes.”

The two-hour “Smallville” finale airs at 8PM Friday, May 13, on The CW

DreamWorks has released two new images from Craig Gillespie’s 3D remake of the 1985 horror-comedy Fright Night, including the one most everyone has been waiting for: the first official look at Doctor Who‘s David Tennant as Las Vegas magician turned vampire hunter Peter Vincent. Talk about getting lost in a role; Tennant is virtually unrecognizable in that photo.

Senior Charlie Brewster (Yelchin) finally has it all going on: he’s running with the popular crowd and dating the most coveted girl in his high school. In fact, he’s so cool he’s even dissing his best friend. But trouble arrives when Jerry (Farrell) moves in next door. He seems like a great guy at first, but there’s something not quite right—but everyone, including Charlie’s mom (Collette), doesn’t notice. After observing some very strange activity, Charlie comes to an unmistakable conclusion: Jerry is a vampire preying on the neighborhood. Unable to convince anyone, Charlie has to find a way to get rid of the monster himself.

Amid a flurry of pickups and cancellations, Fox dropped the ax on Human Target and passed on the pilot Locke & Key, an adaptation of the acclaimed horror comic by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network also chopped the new Christian Slater comedy Breaking In, Shawn Ryan’s freshman police drama The Chicago Code, the Tim Roth drama Lie to Me and the buddy comedy Traffic Light. Deadline points out that Fringe may have gotten lucky with its early renewal, as no other bubble shows received a reprieve.

Fox did, however, pick up four series: Alcatraz, J.J. Abrams’ crime drama revolving around a team investigating the reappearance of the prison’s 1960s inhabitants in the present; The Finder, a Bones spinoff about a military-trained “finder” who locates lost people and items in the Florida Keys; The New Girl, a comedy starring Zooey Deschanel as a quirky teacher who moves in with three guys; and I Hate My Teenage Daughter, about two women whose daughters act just like the girls that picked on them in high school.

The cancellation of Human Target — an action drama loosely based on the DC Comics property — while not exactly surprising, still became an overnight trending topic on Twitter. The series premiered in January 2010 with 10.12 million viewers, a figure that dropped to 7.2 million by the season finale. The decline continued in Season 2, until it was buoyed in its final three episodes by an American Idol lead-in.

Locke & Key, a supernatural thriller produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek, Fringe), had generated plenty of buzz — the pilot was described as “beautiful” and “magical” — but there were indications in the past couple of weeks that Fox had cooled on the project. All is not lost, though: The Hollywood Reporter indicates the pilot, which starred Miranda Otto, Jesse McCartney, Nick Stahl and Sarah Bolger, could be shopped to another network.

This July, “Torchwood” will be crossing the Atlantic for what is being described as a bigger, bolder new idea thanks to a partnership with Starz and BBC.

Produced under a new development deal and filmed in the United States, fans have been wondering how much of the series will change and how much will remain classic “Torchwood.”

According to executive producer Julie Gardner, the series will remain true to its history but will re-invent itself for a new audience at the same time.

“The joy of what Russell [T. Davies] has created in the first episode, how he’s kind of placed all the characters and the story, is that it works as both things,” Gardner told SFX. “If you’re a returning member of the audience there are little references, jokes, a continuity of character that you will puck up on and hopefully enjoy.

“But if you are completely new to it, you don’t need to have even heard the phrase Torchwood. Everything is re-established for a fresh audience in episode one, and the way we’ve done that is that we have new American characters, notably CIA operatives Rex Matheson [Mekhi Phifer] and Esther Drummond [Alexa Havins].”

How will the new comers be worked into the series? Well, when the a miracle takes place and no one in the world dies the CIA begin investigating … and their efforts to understand this bizarre new phenomenon lead them to Cardiff Bay and the fallen institute known as Torchwood.

However, with new characters coming in and helping re-establish the series fans shouldn’t be worried about seeing less of their surviving duo as “Torchwood” will still focus on Jack (John Barrowman) and Gwen (Eve Myles).

Following on from “Children Of Earth,” the series will catch up with the surviving members of Torchwood (and Rhys too) who are trying to live their lives and keep a low profile. Jack is lurking in the shadows, watching over Gwen and Rhys but thanks to the global miracle that takes place they are forced to reveal themselves.

“Jack is very much a protector. Jack has disappeared, but he’s kind of watching and waiting and determined to protect Gwen. So as Rex’s investigation into what Torchwood is and what they know about this event gathers momentum, Jack and Gwen come into the light.”